The logistics of being a professional athlete

The Game Room
1

I’m curious about the day-to-day of pro athletes. I used to travel a lot for work, and it was a huge pain in my butt. Catching planes, hotel stays, rental cars, shopping in strange cities for basics, etc. There were perks, however: The daily per diems and earning points and miles from airlines/hotels/rental car companies.

But what does it look like for pros? My cousin’s son is a pro football player, but since going pro, that branch doesn’t interact much with us plebes, so while I should have a first-hand reference, I don’t.

Some questions I wonder about: Do they drive themselves to the stadium? What kind of meal per diem do they get while on the road? How long before the game do football players travel to the city they’re visiting? Baseball players are playing upwards of seven+ months, plus a month and a half of spring training-- are they really only “home” in their own beds for three-and-a-half months a year? It would seem ridiculous to pay millions for a home you’re rarely at. When athletes travel back to the city they play for at the beginning of the season (if they don’t already live there), do they typically go back to the same residence, or do they rent something new every year? Do they typically buy a home there? Rent furnished? Move their stuff in from their home? How do athletes adjust for trades-- they suddenly are no longer playing in the city they “live” in; what about leases, mail, etc.? Does the league offer relocation assistance? On game day, if they’re not on the road, do they just do normal stuff like run errands?

I’m sure other questions are out there, and I’ll think of them. But does anyone have any insight into the day-to-day lives of pro athletes?

2

In the big sports almost everything is done for them, all travel arrangements including local travel to and from the stadium. Depending on the team they may go to the local venue and all get on a bus to the airport together and fly on a chartered plane or just all meet up at the airport. On the road everything will be taken care of for them. Many players will buy or rent a local residence. As you go down the scale of sports popularity and revenue the athletes have to cover more and more of the costs and arrangements themselves. Sometimes they’ll have a per diem to cover travel costs, sometimes it’s all part of their pay. If you’re a pro boxer working your way up and you aren’t an Olympic champion you may be living in someone’s basement and your manager or promoter will have to take care of all your travel because you don’t have any money at all, or you may be required to drive yourself to your next event. Young pro wrestlers may be living in their cars and driving themselves from event to event to pick up less than $50 a show.

3

If you hang around a stadium before a game you can see the home players driving themselves to the park. At Fenway, there’s a tiny parking lot under/behind where the players drive up and hand the keys to a valet to get them all wedged in the small space. I imagine the same is true for most players when the game is at home.

A lot will depend on the circumstances for the players. A lot of single young men will just rent or buy a place near the stadium and live out of a suitcase on the road. They may have a permanent home elsewhere.

Established players with families and a long term contract with a team often have a permanent home near their home stadium where they raise their families. If they get traded they may or may not move their families, especially if it’s mid-season or the middle of the school year for families with small children. But there are lots of options when you’re being paid that kind of money. I think the majority of your questions don’t have a single definitive answer.

Football teams usually travel the day before a game, sometimes two days depending on how far apart the cities are. Now, with NFL games in London and Mexico City some teams go early. If an east coast team has back to back games on the west coast they may stay out there the entire week and train at a college facility. The Patriots stayed in Denver after a game so they could train at altitude for their next game in Mexico City.

Players like Tom Brady who have been with one team for 17 years are well established in the community and he and Giselle built a huge compound that they live in. Granted, they have 4-5 houses around the world and use them all, but during the season they are mostly in Boston. Compare that to a rookie without a family who is probably just renting a furnished apartment or house near Foxboro since he has no idea if he’ll make the team next year, or get cut this year.

4

Most baseball players have some kind of home in their team’s home city, so they’re “Home” then. Roberto Alomar, when he was with the Blue Jays, literally lived in the stadium - the SkyDome, as it was called then, has a big hotel in center field, and he lived in a suite there. Most players chose somewhat more traditional accommodations - I used to bike past Jesse Barfield’s house in Burlington and gawk at it.

Sure, buying a home or condo costs money, but you can always sell it.

An athlete’s approach to the permanency of their living arrangements will generally be proportional to the likelihood of departure. It is exceedingly unlikely the Golden State Warriors are going to trade Stephan Curry, so Curry doubtless owns a nice house in the Bay area. Some guy getting a cup of coffee in the big leagues for the first time due to an injury to the team’s backup goalie will be rented a condo by the team. As Telemark, points out, a player’s family might also not be easily moved.

5

One thing I’ve heard mentioned (tho know little about) is that their pay/taxes can be weird. I think football players - for example, get paid per game. So they get - what? - 16 whopping checks over a 3d of the year. Given what they make, I’m sure most of us could manage. But it would pose some issues different than most of us who get regular checks throughout the year.

With away games, I believe there can be an issue of states trying to tax the portion of salaries earned in their state. Not sure about the details, but for a couple of years I lived and worked in adjoining states, and my taxes were a nightmare!

Our local Sunday paper regularly reports high-end real estate transactions. A number of them involve pro athletes who no longer are with the local teams. I don’t really follow sports, so I don’t know much about the names, but it is an interesting mix between folk who buy mansions near the practice facilities, and folk who buy smaller units in hip neighborhoods.

The guy I occasionally wonder about, is the guy at the end of the bench, earning the league minimum - around $600k for the NBA. Compared to most of us, he’s wealthy (at least through his playing days). But it must be difficult travelling and hanging with folk who make many times what you do - like the stars who make $20-30 million, or even the average of around $8 mill…

6

When a player for a major pro sport is traveling for a road game, their travel arrangements are going to be entirely taken care of by the team, including most (if not all) meals. Baseball players may have a little more flexibility there (particularly when it comes to meals), as they’re in other cities for 3-5 days at a time, but football players are usually only in the other city for 48 hours or so, and hockey and basketball players, for even less time.

NFL players, in particular, have extremely regimented schedules during the season, and usually only one day off per week (typically on Tuesdays). On all of the other days of the week, players will be busy at team facilities (in practice, film study, meetings, weightlifting) for most of the day.

Here’s a very good article from Newsday, from a couple of years ago, that outlines what an NFL player’s week is like (and just how regimented it can be):

When their team has a bye week, their coaches may often given the players a few days off (and many will go back to their hometowns then), but if a player is having treatments done for an injury, they may be expected to see team doctors for those treatments even on their off days.

IME, most players drive their own cars to the stadium for home games.

As others have said, it’s not unusual for players to only rent living space in their team’s home cities, in part because they don’t know for how long they’re going to be living there (especially for backups and fringe players). As others have noted, more established players (particularly those with long-term deals) may buy homes, and may wind up staying in that city after they retire. I grew up in Green Bay, and my mother designed and remodeled kitchens and bathrooms – she did many projects for Packer players and coaches, but it was nearly always for the big-name players, who had a higher likelihood of staying with the team for multiple years.

One thing that Green Bay, in particular, faces is that it’s a small city – the city is only 104,000 people, and the entire Metropolitan Statistical Area has only around 300,000. Plus, it’s not terribly diverse ethnically – in particular, there are relatively few African-Americans in the area (only about 1% of the population in the MSA). So, a lot of Packer players, who may want either (a) the excitement of a bigger city, and / or (b) a city with a bigger African-American cultural presence, choose to live elsewhere during the offseason.

7

Forgot to add: teams in the “big four” professional sports (NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA) often travel on chartered flights.

OTOH, a few years ago, I saw several members of the Chicago Fire MLS team in the American Airlines terminal at O’Hare, for a commercial flight to play the Dallas team.

8

many pro athletes wear a suit and tie to games. (in some leagues it’s pretty much required clothing) Which means for a home game, they essentially just wear that while driving to the game and driving home. If a guy does not suit up for the game , they keep their street clothes on during the game.

9

This depends on the league. I think that, in the NBA, they’re expected to wear the suit and tie; in the NFL, inactive players on the sideline are expected to wear team-issued sportswear (i.e., sweatshirt, sweatpants, cap, etc.)

10

There’s an article, maybe a couple years old that take about this very topic, but I think it was the NFL. Lots of rookie players going broke trying to keep up, or from being stuck with huge bills for dinners as a hazing gag.

Can’t find it at the moment.

11

yes it’s a tradition that the rookies fund a high dollar dinner for the rest of the team.

12

I wonder about this a little as well. When a pro athlete is “home” (wherever that is), I would guess they still have to deal with mundane tasks like getting groceries, running to the hardware store for a gallon of paint, taking their kids shopping, going to the dry cleaner, or to the movies or out to dinner, etc. I suppose if you live in the same neighborhood, you may see them every so often. I would imagine the non-superstars can pretty much go about life like a normal person, right?

13

my son’s friend lived next door to an NHL player for a few years. He was from Sweden so he would spend most of the off season back there. His kids went to public schools even though he could easily pay for a private school. His wife did not work so she handled most of the kid duties. I sat next to him at a few kids soccer games. He was not a star player but I think most people knew who he was. He retired to Sweden but he comes back most years for an alumni game.

14

A friend was in the NHL for 9 seasons. I went to high school with him and he married a classmate of mine. He earned a business degree at college and spent his summers working for a variety of finance companies so he’d have a career after hockey. He played for three teams (Rangers, North Stars, and Devils) and I think he moved his family when he went to Minnesota. After his final season he got an MBA at Harvard and went into banking. Probably not a typical athlete timeline, but a valid one none the less.

15

That’s kinda what I was wondering; when do they go out and buy those fabulous wardrobes they wear at the post-game press conference, and why doesn’t it look like it’s been in a suitcase?

Who handles the logistics for individual athletes, like pro golfers? They’re in one city for several days for tournaments, have their own equipment to bring, and a caddie that travels with them. Does the caddie do all the planning off the course, too, or is there someone else in the entourage for that stuff?

16

One thing about this is that their earnings are taxed in the city/state where they are playing their game. So, for an away game, their annual contract amount has to be divided up to a per-game amount so it can be taxed. At the end of the year they have to file tax returns in every state where they played (well, their accountant does the work, but it’s still a lot of work.)

17

a big name golfer likely has someone beyond just a caddy to help him out. But for some people just starting out they may not even have a full time caddy , they may hire a caddy at each course .

18

There are services for everyday people - granted with a little bit of money - that will come to you with clothes and assemble a wardrobe for you. The players can hire their own people to do the same thing; money is less of a concern than time. Highly paid executives have the same time/money constraints and use the same services.

19

Now this is an interesting nugget of information! I had no idea it was taxed that way. Is there a reason it’s just for football players? I mean, I understand that baseball, hockey and basketball players aren’t paid per game because that would be ridiculously complicated, what with multiple locations per week and all, but why are football players paid per game instead of just bi-weekly (or monthly) paychecks, and taxed in their home state?

20

I live in an apartment building very near Wrigley Field. A couple of Cubs have rented apartments in the building during the season. They can ask the doorman to lock down the elevator as they go in and out and they’re almost never seen in any common areas of the building.
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